Posts Tagged 'Innovative'

Last week, I attended the LAUNCH Scale conference and had the pleasure of attending the VIP dinner the night before the event began. We hosted the top 10 startups from the IBM SmartCamp worldwide competition for the dinner and throughout the events. Famed Internet entrepreneur Jason Calacanis joined us for the dinner and gave a quick pep talk to the teams. He mentioned that people come up to him and lament that they wished they’d gotten into the "Internet thing" earlier—and that he's been hearing this since 1999. His story reminded me of a similar personal experience.

In the fall semester of 1995, I was a junior at St. Bonaventure University, working in the computer lab. One day after helping a cute girl I had a crush on, she said to me, “You’re so good with computers, why aren’t you a computer science major?” Swelling with pride, I tried to sound impressive and intelligent as I definitively stated, “Windows 95 just came out, and pretty much everything that can be built with computers has been built.”

Yep. Windows 95. The pinnacle of software achievement.

It is easily the dumbest thing I've ever said—and perhaps up there as one of the dumbest things anyone has said. Ever.

But I hear corollaries to this fairly often, both in and outside the startup world. "There's no room for innovation there," or "You can't make money there," or "That sector is awful, don't bother." I'm guilty of a few of those statements myself—yet businesses find a way. We live in an age of unprecedented innovation. Just because one person didn't have the key to unlock it doesn't mean the door is closed.

Catch yourself before you fall into this loop of thinking. It might mean being the "Uber of X" or starting a business that's far ahead of its time. Think it's crazy to say everything that can be built has been built? I think it's just as crazy to say, "It's too late to get into ___ market."

For example, when markets grow in size, they also grow in complexity. The first mover in the space defines the market, catches the innovators and early adopters, and builds the bridge over the chasm to the early and late majority. (For more on this, read Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey Moore.) When a market begins to service the majority, the needs of many are not being met, which leaves room for new entrants to build a business that addresses the segments dissatisfied with the current offerings or needing specialized versions.

The LAUNCH Scale event showcased dozens of startups and the innovation out there in the world always amazes me. I'd recommend it to any startup that has built something great, and now needs to scale. Still haven't built something yourself? Think you missed the opportunity to build and create? In 1995, I didn't think about how things would change in five, 10, even 20 years. Now it's 2015 and the startup world has been growing faster than any sector in history.

Think everything that could be built has been built? Think again. Want to build something? Do it. Build something. What are you waiting for? Go make a difference in the world.

I remember when I first started here at SoftLayer it was quite exciting and nerve racking at the same time. You see I came from the telecom industry, and I worked for a huge company that had 100,000+ employees. Basically, I did the same thing everyday. I learned a lot when I first joined this huge company, but I felt like my career had become stagnant and I needed a change. I decided to look for a job at a small company and be challenged everyday. Man, did I find the perfect job!!! Anyway, back to the point. At first, I didn't realize how advanced SoftLayer was till I began to look more into the company and the industry we are in. The more I dug the more I was impressed and excited to be a part of something revolutionary.

I know we all have seen the movie "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" (old school version) or at least most of us. I know it sounds cheesy but that is the best way to describe how I felt when I first joined. I felt like Charlie. I was just amazed to see what I saw inside the workings of SoftLayer. I had no idea that some of the tools/services/automation SoftLayer had done was even possible. The best way for me to describe the management of SoftLayer is they are the Willie Wonka's of our industry. Some people may think SoftLayer's ideas are radical or even impossible, but we don't. All the great people here at SoftLayer work together to make the impossible possible.

While other companies try to mimic us, we are busy turning fantasies into realities.

I remember when I figured out that I wanted to be different. My mother took me to see Elvis in concert a year before he died. I knew at that moment I wanted to be a part of something great.

Because of that concert I spent years learning how to play every musical instrument I could get my hands on.

Fast forward thirty something years later and I find myself working with my best friends to build the most innovative hosting company in the world.

I learned after many of my own concerts that it was "making a difference" and not a hit album that I was truly in love with. To steal a line from my favorite book, "I who knew not that I knew not, now know that I know not...and that's progress."

Not unlike the Beatles, SoftLayer is a phenomena that is larger than life. It's a culture. It's a way of life. It's how you do business. It's a necessity.

It is to be continued.....

I now know why Elvis left the building, it was to make room for SoftLayer.

If I could be anyone in the world, I would want to be Big Tex. I can't think of anything that says – larger than life – than Big Tex. For those n00bs out there, Big Tex is that iconic Texan that welcomes one and all to the State Fair of Texas every year. His two-story boots, size BIG denim jeans and 100-XL Dickies shirt are far from the norm. As Big Tex stands tall above the crowds at the state fair - he is often used for navigation, bellows out words of wisdom, poses for millions of pictures and captures the attention of everyone young and old. His size, stature, and presence lets everyone know – this isn't your typical cowboy.

It's the "different" part that I like about Big Tex. When we started SoftLayer, I challenged my team to think differently. I wanted to do something that had never been done before. What's the point in being like everyone else? I want SoftLayer to be the Big Tex of hosting. Something so different, so unique, so functional – it will be used by one and all. The challenge lies with creating something that is unlike its predecessors - improving upon the status quo and being innovative enough to spring forward into the future.

To be truly different - one has to rely upon experience, knowledge, education, intestinal fortitude and take a calculated risk. Can you imagine the person who recommended building a 52 foot tall cowboy in 1951 to attract visitors to a relatively small state fair? In contrast, can you imagine visiting the Texas State Fair and not seeing Big Tex? The greatest companies in the world all have one thing in common – they dared to be different. They invested in the uncommon, unknown, and non-existent in an attempt to become the next household name. While Softlayer is still young and far from "Forest Gump" status – we are anything but average. This isn't your typical hosting company.